My Baby Turns 5

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY Jack!



It's so hard to believe but my "baby", Jack, turned 5 on October 3rd. In my eyes Jack is still "baby Jack" and we just recently stopped calling him that on a regular basis! When I go to pick him up he is all legs and long, not what I remember of when he was short and small. I apparently have a hard time making my brain catch up to reality! I now know the true meaning of "enjoy them while they are small". I can't tell you how many times I would hear that from family, friends and strangers, where ever I would go. When you are a stay at home mom, and you have more than one small child at home with you, you live for the next "step" and not the now. I have tried to soak up the smaller years with Jack knowing he was to be our last child. How I wish I could go back and keep doing all those baby things over and over again as I now miss them. I truly am enjoying seeing him and his brothers grow up into young boys.... cherish every moment of your kids younger years.... they are only little for a short time!

Iron Man 70.3

I DID IT!! I have taken the plunge and I am diving in HEAD FIRST!!! 2010 Iron Man Half 70.3 here I come! The coming months should be interesting.... Steve is also competing in this endurance event so our training schedules should be interesting! I never thought I would ever be blogging about doing this kind of stuff, but never the less here I am in the middle of it all. My prayer is not only to just finish the race, but to be a shining light for Jesus and to be given the opportunity to share in his love while encouraging others to reach their goals. Gonna need LOTS of prayers coming my way over the next 7 months!!! I did fail to mention that a good friend of mine who recently lost her husband to cancer, will be training with me and competing in this race as well. I find this to be an honor to share in this experience with her as well with my husband. God is GOOD!

Reading Made FUN!

Who says school should be boring, all work and no relaxation? Today the boys got to do school in their jammies and kick back a little while reading. I stumbled upon these amazing outdoor lounge chairs while zipping through one of my favorite stores. To my amazement, the lounge chairs were 75% off! So what's a girl to do when ya see that kind of a deal! I tossed 2 of them in my cart and scrambled out of the store before I spent any more green backs. Once I got home I realized I should have picked 3 of them up instead of 2. What was I thinking??? Did I honestly think that my boys would be able to share the 2 loungers and take turns during reading hour? HA! So it's back to the store we go later today to retrieve one more lounger... hope they still have at least one! I had a heck of a time explaining to the hubs why I bought these "mattresses" as Luke called them. I was quick to correct him in saying they are loungers, and were purchased for our quite time when reading. Needless to say, my plan worked and the boys were thrilled to lay down, get comfy and read. Money well spent I say!

First Day Of School @ Rolling Acres Academy

BBBBBRRRRRRRIIIIIIING, school is officially in session! Today was Jacks very first day of school and boy was he excited! This was my first day of teaching 3 boys but I embraced the challenge. When all was said and done, we had a great start to the new school year. Besides the usual book work of language, arithmetic and spelling we are embarking on some new territory. Every 2 weeks the boys and I are going to do a unit study on a country. To start us off and rolling, our first country is Mexico. Today the boys learned how to say all the primary colors in Spanish and some of Mexico's customs. Tomorrow we will be making home made corn tortillas and diving deeper into Mexico's history. I never thought home schooling could be so much fun! Here's to a fun filled school year... CHEERS!

Rolling Acres Academy

Welcome to Rolling Acres Academy! The boys and I have been hard at work getting our school room ready for class on Monday. After we placed all the final touches we decided our school needed a name. So we came up with Rolling Acres Academy since we live on acreage on a small hill, tons of trees and a lake. HA! I know it doesn't make any sense but it sounded good, so it stuck! Today our last shipment of books came in so we can officially start on Monday and the boys couldn't be more excited! I too have to admit I am anxious to start the new year.... ya know, get back into a good routine and have a schedule to stick to. Summer has been a blast, but we haven't kept to a schedule much. Then again that's okay cause it's summer and that's what your supposed to do... have fun..... and we did! We lived it up! Now it's back to reality. Happy home schooling to all you moms out there in blog land who take on this very rewarding challenge! CHEERS!

Back From Break

Wow.... time sure flies by when you having fun! We have had one crazy, busy summer! I cannot believe it has been so long since I blogged, but with three very busy boys who have kept my every moment running, and I mean RUNNING, I only seem to find a few minute here and there for blog land. Summer has never been better! Besides the usual visits to the pool and play dates with friends we have taken a couple of road trips as well and had a visit from Steve's brother Dale and his family for July 4Th. Our first road trip was to Tennessee to visit my dad with a quick stop over in Atlanta for the night. Seven hours is about all I can handle in the car alone with three boys. HA! We spent several days in the Cumberland Mountains with Pappy (my dad) then returned to Atlanta to visit my sister and her family. This was the much anticipated visit of the year as my sister recently had her second child and the first girl for this side of my family. We spent the rest of that weekend spoiling her rotten and making wonderful summertime memories with all the cousins. After a week of all that we headed home to unpack, clean then turn around in one week and head to the Florida Keys for a mini vacation with the hubs. This was the boys first trip to the Keys and their first time snorkeling. Needless to say Andrew is hooked... I think we have a future marine biologist on our hands. Andrew couldn't get enough of the water and marine life! Amongst all the trips to the reef we managed to fit it a glass bottom boat ride, that was spectacular, and a trip to Key West that is a whole other story in itself. On Saturday Steve competed in another triathlon, that was a sprint distance, and placed 5Th in his age group and completed the race with a new PR of 1 hr 10 min. We also celebrated Luke's 7Th Birthday while in the Keys and to Luke's surprise at dinner he received a birthday cake like no other!!!! The restaurant that we were having dinner presented Luke with a whole raw fish on a platter with a lit candle in the middle. His face, as was ours, was priceless upon seeing this creature on a platter with a candle in the middle! Good times and great memories. Now we find ourselves back in a groove and getting ready to kick off another school year. This year is a bit different that all the past ones as we will be home schooling ALL they boys this year. I'm looking forward to the change and embracing what God has in store for our family. Only two weeks to go and we're off and learning! Until then we plan to soak up as many pool days as we can and enjoy every moment God has given us! Happy summer to all. :)

Summer Flops

So this is what I've been up to lately.....





I have been making book marks for the teachers at Luke's school for Teacher Appreciation Week that is coming up. And I've been mastering my skills at making summer flip flops. I am tired of paying large amounts of $$ to buy all the fun stuff I love so I figured I would set out and just make it. Turns out it isn't hard at all and I am loving the craft time to let me creative juices flow! So now that I've mastered jewelry making, book marks and flip flops my next task is to conquer the Danskin She Rox Triathlon on Mother's Day. Only a few weeks left!!!!

Princess Half Marathon COMPLETED

Princess HALF MARATHON
Clock Time 2:24:10
Chip Time 2:23:33
Overall Place 2248 / 6150
Gender Place 2150 / 5956
Division Place 481 / 1211
Age Grade 46.4%
5K 31:07
10K 1:04:05
15K 1:39:35

A NEW PR!!!! So there it is! I shaved off about 15 minutes from my previous Half Marathon time. I will admit I was hoping to have completed the race in 2:10, but I started having a cramping issue around mile 9 that was very painful. I pushed through the pain and completed the race and that's what matters I guess. This was an amazing race, and not only that it was the first of it's kind so that was even sweeter. I tell ya.. there ain't nothing like crossing the finish line and getting a big fat medal placed around your neck. I will have to share some pics of the medals in my stash. It's all about the medals... LOL Any takers for next years run? You can't get any better than sunny Florida, on the brink of spring and the running temps in the morning are cool with the sun shining. CHEERS! I'm off to celebrate!

God's Grace

I don't know about any of you but I have to be reminded (daily) of God's Grace in my life. Just when I think I've made it over a vast mountain, I feel like I am going up against another vast mountain. Life is full of twists and turns and I am beginning to think I don't like some of them. I love adventure and I am always up for a new one but when I don't see the map laid out ahead of me I get freaked out. I like to think that I am truly living my life to it's fullest each day at a time, however I have come to the realization that I am so very wrong. God has amazing things in store for us all, even in this crappy economy, I just need to focus on HIM and HIM alone. I can no longer rely on what the stock market says or what comes down the line in the corporate world. I am choosing to take a stand on scripture and what the Lord has set before me. Here are a couple of scriptures I've been praying.....

"Because I seek the Lord, I shall not lack any beneficial thing" Psalm 34:10

"My God will meet all my needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus" Philippians 4:19

I have been reminded today of how precious life really is. It's been almost a year ago that a friend of mine lost her battle with cancer. Her husband posted a blog today about his beautiful wife and how she chose to live her life, even in the last days. Here is a tidbit of what she wrote on her blog regarding her circumstance in the midst of fighting cancer:

"I’m still angry at God, but I know He is there with me. I am still learning to accept this. But, I’m going to stand up and take it like a child. Fearless, full of life, full of fun and talking all about it. The good stuff is right there in front of all of us. We are just too grown up to realize it or enjoy it. To all my little people out there, keep your parents on track! Remind them to play more, smile more, enjoy life and ROCK ON!"

I feel so guilty for feeling sorry for myself and what circumstances I may be facing. I have learned a valuable lesson today and it is to stop having a pity party and get up and live life. I need to stop and smell the roses more often than I do. I need to stop taking what I have for granted and most of all get off the speeding train that I am always on to get from one place to the next.
If you stop and think about it, life 30 years ago was so much simpler and laid back. Neighbors were friends, kids played outside with other kids, and families sat down to dinner together. I thank God today for shifting my focus from the material things I've been focusing to more focus on HIM. After all HE really is the one in control, not us. I will close this out with this:

GOD DOES NOT GIVE US GRACE FOR OUR IMAGINATION

I'm Diving In........

OH BOY..... so I am diving in feet and all.... can you guess what this means? I'm going to college! I must admit I'm a bit nervous and excited all in one. I have had a life long dream to go to dental hygiene school since I was 18, and as God would have it he had other plans for me. If I could go back 18 years I wouldn't change a thing! I have been so blessed to have been able to be a stay at home mom and raise my 3 adoring boys. I do however feel a tug at my heart regarding going to college. I have made this decision to better myself and personal growth, not to go out and make tons of money. I worked in a dental office as a dental assistant for 8 years before I had my first child and quite working full time, so I have the experience in the field. I told Steve I wanted to go get my degree and maybe work a couple days a week, and still feel like I'm at home with the boys. This endeavor of course will take several years to accomplish and that is if I go full time. I am going to start off slow and work from there, as I want to do well in each course and not bog myself down with too much. I love home schooling so this will all take place while I am home schooling all 3 boys next year! :-0 Am I crazy or what? HA! Never the less I am very excited and cannot wait to see how God steers my path. It has been in my thoughts and prayers for over a year now and I am finally ready to take that leap of faith! First step is making that appointment with the college advisor in the next couple of weeks to map everything out. Prayer has been my rock so when you think about it, please pray for God's plan in my life. I am SO NERVOUS!!!! :) I keep telling myself, With God ALL things are possible!

I'm In......

I cannot believe it.... I'm in!!!! Yesterday was THE DAY, and when 10 o'clock rolled around I was hot on the Danskin website making sure I got in for the Danskin Triathlon. To my surprise the distance has changed, which in a way is a good thing, I think! Last year the distance was shorter and so this year they have increased the distance. We will be swimming 1/2 mile, bike 13 miles then run 3.1 miles (5k) to the finish! This event closed last year with in 24 hours of opening so I was stoked that I was able to secure my spot. Now the REAL training begins! I am not much of a swimmer so I have opted to join a triathlon training group. My coach who trains me now for races is overseeing the triathlon training group so I should be well prepared. I just need to get over my fear of swimming in the FL lakes.... you know our lakes in FL have some very nasty creatures living in them! The race is planned for May 10Th, Mother's Day. Anyone else out in blog land competing in this? I'd love to hear from you!

Correction.....

Breaking News...... apparently in my oversight I have left someone out in one of my recent blogs. Not that I did this intentionally BUT so no ones feelings get hurt I need to clarify things. My step brother in law Chris and his wife Julie are due to have their baby in February. They were accidentally left out of one of my recent blogs regarding family members who are pregnant and will be having babies this year. Life with 3 boys and a husband, home school, sports activities, church, friends, and basically just life in general has kept my mind in overload. I'm sure most moms can relate and understand. Stay tuned for an update in the coming month on the impending birth of Chris and Julie's baby boy who will be arriving soon. Hopefully by then I will be able to find out this sweet prince's name as I have not been successful in doing so yet.

Prayers For Harper

I am NOT savvy in blog land BUT I did want to add this to my page. Another blogging mommy named Kelly has just given birth to a baby girl named Harper, last evening. Harper was immediately flown to Tulsa OK to the NICU as she has pneumonia. From what I know she has a strong heart but needs all the prayers she can get from all the prayer warrior mommies. I am not sure how to post the link to her blog so here is her address: Kellyskornerblog.com

Pink Or Blue?

Let me start off by saying this........... NO I'm NOT pregnant, But I am very excited about some news to share. 2009 is going to be a VERY busy year I must say! My sister Elizabeth is due to have a baby girl in April, Halee (my sister in law) will be having their 4Th baby, my girlfriend Andria will be having her 3rd child . AND tonight I just received word that Susan (my other sister in law) is also expecting! Susan and her husband have been praying and waiting patiently for God to bless them with a child. So praise God there will be 3 new additions in the family this year and one amongst our church family. Praying many blessings upon these families in the coming months and may God be with them every step of the way through their pregnancies.

Disney Half Marathon

Today was the BIG day! One of my dreams came true. Steve and I competed in the Disney Half Marathon, 13.3 miles. Our journey began at an early time of 3:00 a. m. Luckily we booked a hotel room at Disney's Port Orleans French Quarter and took along a babysitter for the boys. We boarded the bus headed for the START line @ 3:30 and basically hung out at the START line for 2 1/2 hours in the 50 degree chilly air. I will admit I have learned a lot from this experience. One being come prepared to be cold unless you bring a blanket and just toss it along the path when you start the race. Even thought we had on the right clothes, it was still COLD! The race itself was nothing short of amazing as there were hundreds of cheering crowds along the way, and not to mention all the Disney characters along the route. In the end Steve finished in 1 hr. 54 min and I finished in 2 hrs. 34 min. There was a total of 12,434 racers and I came in 6,308. This was the most amazing race I have ever been apart of and am looking forward to the Disney Marathon 2010! Anyone care to join?